Randy Hunt, local CPA and 5th Barnstable District Massachusetts state representative, regularly posts his points of view regarding local, regional and national issues. (Boring!) But most of the time he just writes humorous stories. No ads. No clutter. Everything is copyrighted by Randy Hunt. To replicate an article, just email for permission.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Steve Jobs, visionary

There are thousands of accounts of Steve Jobs’ life and
accomplishments available on the Internet, so I will skip all of the stuff that
you can read elsewhere.

The year was 1986 and I was working in New York City for Peat Marwick Mitchell (nka
KPMG), an international accounting firm that had adopted the Apple Macintosh as
its computer of choice for auditors in the field. During my two-year stint at
KPMG’s head office, I spent one year on a team that revamped the interface of
our audit software and one year on a two-man team that assisted and promoted
KPMG’s consultants who installed small office computer networks and accounting
software.

Part of my job involved traveling to computer trade shows
and making presentations on the positives and negatives of various accounting
software systems available on PC and Macintosh platforms. You might think that
seminars involving such a dry subject would lack the glitziness and show-biz
elements of a classic Steve Jobs product unveiling. And you’d be right.

But those seminars took me to places, like the 1985 Macworld
Conference & Expo in Boston and the 1986
MacExpo at the MosconeCenter in San
Francisco, where I attended a panel presentation by several
of Jobs’ Macintosh development team. It was shortly after John Sculley, the
Pepsi guy who took over the reins at Apple, ran Jobs off.

Though Jobs was absent, the team still carried his vision
for the computer industry; one in which software and hardware design would
focus on users, not the druthers of programmers and engineers. This vision was
shared by Jef Raskin, who headed up Apple’s effort to produce a low-cost computer
with an intuitive interface.

Members of the development team also included Bill
Atkinson, Burrell Smith, Chris Espinosa, Andy Herzfeld
and Guy Kawasaki. There were others, but these are the people I remember seeing
at the Expos.

One of the above, I don’t remember whom, said something that
I’ll never forget. Though it wasn’t Steve Jobs intimating this vision that day,
I’m absolutely sure that he believed in it because it has nearly come true.

In response to a comment from someone in the audience about
how great the Macintosh is because of its portability, one of the panelists
challenged that thought. His
definition of “portable” was that you could carry something else at the same
time. The Macintosh failed this definition, more appropriately falling into the
category of “luggable.”

Let me take that a step further, he said, and hypothesized
that computers wouldn’t truly be portable until they could be woven into the
fabric of your clothing.

That statement, made in 1986—before iPods, Smart
Phones, and Wii Jackets were a twinkle in any of our eyes—captured my
imagination.

Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1996 and got to work remaking
the company by bringing back the “fantastic” and “cool” that we had associated
with Apple in its early days. And, sure enough, we started seeing products that
integrated into our daily lives almost as seamlessly as a computer woven into a
sweater.

Some people were on TV this week speculating that the era of
computer innovation is over with Jobs’ passing. That’s no more true than declaring
that innovation in song writing died with John Lennon’s assassination (although
some may believe that too). People with genius move the creativity ball forward
with incredible pace, but there is always someone who comes along to pick up
the ball.

I’m just glad that I got to watch this amazing person and
his team lead an entire industry from its infancy to what is now probably its
toddler stage.

From Apple's Think Different ad campaign:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

I monitor all comments. As long as there are no personally defamatory statements and/or foul language, I'll post your comment. For this reason, your comment will not appear instantaneously. To comment without registering, choose Name/URL and type a screen name (or your real name if you like) into the Name field. Leave the URL field blank.

I hope I made you smile.

About Me

A certified public accountant for 30 years, Randy has his practice in the beautiful, seaside town of Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Active in many local organizations, Randy is the state representative for the Barnstable & Plymouth District and advocates for conservation of Cape Cod, public safety and independence from foreign energy sources.